| 
| 
|
Peregrine's article I will most probably die here sometime this year..." drew as large a reader reaction as anything I've ever posted at the Lodge. Since then, I've posted some of the responses as articles. As of July 1999, I'm adding three more, but also cutting off submissions -- unless you have something to say that offers a totally different viewpoint than anything else posted here.
From a Man Who's Been There
By Michael Peirce Added 7/29/99
Michael Peirce is an American -- not a Yankee, but a Rebel -- who fought in Rhodesia from 1978 to "the end, in March 1980."
I had a dreadful nightmare last night. It really shook me up. I dreamt I was the officer who was to accompany Gen. Lee to Appomatox Court House for the surrender. I had an hour to kill and was talking with two civilians in a local tavern. I knew that I'd have to open that holster and take out my Navy Colt and lay it down, and then I'd be the property of the Yankee government, for an unarmed man exists at the pleasure of those with arms. As I talked with the people in the tavern, and prepared to mount up and depart, we realized with horrible certainty that these were the last free moments we'd ever experience. When I woke up, I was terribly depressed, and considered the dream until time to go to work. Usually, I praise God for giving me such vivid dreams (Once I was an ADC to Napoleon! -- can you guess that military history is a hobby of mine?) but this was no fun. Even meeting Uncle Robert was not enough to take the chill off.
Go on a Rhodesian web site, and look for comments, information etc. about the people who remain in that pathetic husk of a country. They whistle fervently as they pass the graveyard, and as their arms and property are confiscated, one piece at a time, they always put the best face on it. It is a distinctly creepy experience - the local newspaper in Harara continues to print society columns in a grotesque parody of their previous existence.
Never surrender, never never never!!
But on a lighter note -- a reb soldier returning from a futile foraging mission in 1865 met General Fitzhugh Lee and his party, riding home after the surrender. He didn't know who they were but they told him Lee had surrendered and to go on home. His reply: "Uncle Robert would NEVER surrender! It must of been that g-d Fitzhugh Lee!"
Fight Then Run Away
By James Kelley Added 7/29/99
"Anonymous" (below) was wise not to sign his (surely not her?) name. Ranting about a saying you didn't even understand is a great way to get egg tattooed to your face.
In the message posted June 5, someone denounced the idea that "He who turns and runs away lives to fight another day."
The real saying is, "He who FIGHTS and runs away lives to fight another day." Look it up at the library if you don't believe me.
When properly understood, this saying can be seen for the great wisdom that it is. Surely you want to run away after you fight! What's the point in getting caught? Either you win, in which case you don't have to run, or you lose ... in which case, sticking around to die just wastes your life and your cause. What, me martyred? No way!
Anonymous is also dishonest about himself. His words imply that he plans to fight. Oh yeah? When? Or maybe Anonymous is Shooting The Bastards already; somehow I doubt it though. Like all others who rave for it, Anonymous is better at talking war than doing it.
Me, I don't implore others to fight. I'm not Shooting The Bastards, and I'm probably never going to. Why? Because I want to live, and they outnumber me. It would take a lot to make me risk my shitty little life just to kill one or two interchangeable personnel droids. Yes, my life is shitty, but it's the only one I've got.
So how can I live with myself? Am I just a compliant little slave? Not hardly.
I steal from government buildings (though I prefer the term "liberate material" -- you can't steal from an org. that has no right to property in the first place). I sell fake IDs. I piss on cop cars, though only as long as there are no witnesses (sometimes I can even piss into them if the window's open -- shh!). I put subversive information on the net. I collect other people's SSNs and other personal data for later use. I am on welfare, and will get more later this summer.
One thing I'm very proud of: I hunt down cops, who all have unlisted phone numbers these days. They think nobody knows where they live. HA -- I do.
Maybe Anonymous thinks I'm just pretending to fight, making excuses for myself. Fine: let him shoot first. Me, I'm gonna live free no matter what, and the first part of doing that is to LIVE. I may end up being a hermit, sitting back and watching the World go to hell around me. I am sure not going to join any stupid rebel army, not for Anonymous or Bo Gritz or anyone.
And one thing's for sure: I'll be here when it's over.
Masters of Manipulation
By "Look Before You Leap" Added 7/29/99
There is a great difference between using one's head and "chickening out", as one writer describes it. I am reminded of the movie "Barabbas" wherein the character portrayed by Anthony Quinn survives all manner of perils until he finds the answer to his questions in the catacombs of Rome. Upon surfacing, he sees all sorts of chaos and is told the "Christians are burning Rome"... so he promptly picks up a torch and gets to work; you know the rest of the story.
The point here is the old "believe half of what you see and none of what you hear" adage. Those who control the "news" would like nothing better than to whip freedom lovers into a state of fear so as to easily provoke some incidents of armed confrontation. This would only serve to give them license for more crackdowns and confiscations.
Believe me, the gun controllers are much more afraid of the unknown, quiet, individuals who smile at them as opposed to the ones in the BDU's who meet them at the door with weapons ready. It is what they don't know that scares them more than that which they do.
So, my advice is to not let one's self be manipulated into confrontation. While no doubt possessing resolve, freedom lovers lack an organizational structure and do not even come anywhere close to that of the so-called "ragtag" Serbian army. Considering our situation, it will be best to let the reptiles make the first move and show their hand. Then, it will be time for organized resistance. Until the day arrives, prepare.
"Turning away to fight another day" is just an excuse
By Anonymous Added 6/5/99
Ed. note: Though this was posted in June, it was actually submitted in late April, and reflects the status of the Balkans war at that moment.
I can't take it anymore!!! I was going to respond to Peregine's article a few weeks ago, but let it pass. In light of some of the responses, and recent events in Europe and Colorado, I don't think I can be silent any longer.
The argument is "Those who turn and run away live to fight another day." It has been my experience that this is merely an excuse to chicken out. The people who bragg about living to fight another day never seem to fight at all. True, the fight for freedom that we are facing is not going to be won by superior numbers or superior equipment. The combatants must plan and act very carefully, and must attempt to make the best use of the resources available. There is, however, something to be said for raw determination.
They can track your movements with satellites, they can tap your phones, and they can read your e-mail, but when the time comes to take you out of the game, they have to send a flesh-and-bones person after you.
Take Serbia, for example. The United States is the world leader in military technology (although China is catching up by leaps and bounds...). We have the most advanced aircraft in any military service, and yet an F-117, an aircraft virtually invisible to most radars, was shot down by a gunner shooting free-hand. We've now begun to send ground troops into the region. The ground war hasn't yet begun, but it's coming, and none of the guys I've spoken to who are now over there are looking forward to it. Sure, Uncle Sam can send more and better weapons into the region, but the people we'll be fighting won't give up just because there's no hope of winning. These guys are fanatics. The war won't end until every one of them is dead.
Do you have any idea what it's like to fight someone like that? Our guys, perhaps the best trained soldiers in the world are pissing their pants over the thought that they'll be facing a relatively small number of rag-tag guerrillas.
In short, all those who would turn and run away don't add up to a single determined fanatic. It's a strategy that can work for freedom fighters too!
And how we burned in the camps later, thinking: What would things have been like if every Security operative, when he went out at night to make an arrest, had been uncertain whether he would return alive and had to say goodbye to his family? Or if , during periods of mass arrests, as for example in Leningrad, when they arrested a quarter of the entire city, people had not simply sat there in their lairs, paling in terror at every bang of the downstairs door and at every step on the staircase, but had understood they had nothing left to lose and had boldly set up in the downstairs hall an ambush of half a dozen people with axes, hammers, pokers, or whatever else was at hand. -- The Organs would very quickly have suffered a shortage of officers and transport and, notwithstanding all of Stalin's thirst, the cursed machine would have ground to a halt!
--Alexandr Solzhenitzyn, The Gulag Archipelago
TRUTH About Me: A Patriot's "Suicide Note"
By Sean N. Gruber Added 6/5/99
Ed. note: Sean stresses that the "suicide" motif is for literary purposes only.
Here's the truth about me: I didn't hate black people. I didn't hate white people. I didn't hate porn stars. I didn't hate homosexuals. I didn't hate "pot heads." I didn't hate prostitutes. I didn't hate alcohol. I didn't hate tobacco. I didn't hate steroids or cocaine.
I hated Bill Clinton. I hated the FBI. I hated the IRS. I hated the ATF. I hated Bob Dole. I hated Newt Gingrich. I hated Charles Schumer. And I hated Sharon Stone.
Listen up all of you propagandists, I never hated anyone or anything that didn't initiate force against me. All I ever wanted in my entire life was to be left to my own simple dreams and desires.
I didn't hate porn stars, because they left me to my own. I didn't hate homosexuals, because all they want is to be left to themselves, and they left me to my own. I didn't hate "pot heads" because all they want is to be left to themselves, and they left me to my own. I didn't hate prostitutes, because they just want to make an honest living, and they left me to my own.
I didn't hate tobacco, because it never jumped into my mouth. I didn't hate steroids or cocaine, because I realized someday I might want to seriously injure or impair myself.
I hated Bill Clinton because he is a socialist, a fascist, a tyrant,and a murdering butcher. I hated the FBI, and all of its employee's because they are socialist, fascist, tyrannical, murdering butchers. I hated the IRS, and all of their employee's because they are socialist, fascist, thieving, tyrannical, murdering butchers. I hated the ATF, and all of its employees because they are socialist, fascist, tyrannical murdering butchers. I hated Bill Clinton because he is a socialist, a fascist, a tyrant, and a murdering butcher. I hated Bob Dole, because he is a socialist, fascist, victim disarming, murdering butcher. I hated Newt Gingrich because he is a socialist, fascist, FBI-loving, lying tyrannical butcher. I hated Charles Schumer for obvious reasons, most of which have been posted above. And I hated Sharon Stone, because she screwed that socialist, fascist, one world order creating, cop portraying, Michael Douglas, and because she herself is a socialist, fascist, victim disarming, murdering butcher.
Listen up all of you propagandists, you and the before mentioned took everything I ever wanted. In one word, you took my freedom. I died trying to take it back. I expect nothing from you, but I am appealing to your better side. Consider it my dying request, I ask you to tell the truth about me.
I wasn't the hate-mongering white separatist your media says I was, although people have the right to be that if they choose, as long as they don't initiate force against ANYONE, under any circumstances. I lived but that principle, non-initiation of force that is. I never beat up or advocated beating up someone because they were different or smaller.
When you lay on your death bed, although you'll die with more money
and a cute little obituary, you won't be able to say the same.
A Veterans Journey, or
From moral majority to mad minority
By Anonymous Added 4/22/99
Ed. note: This piece was edited for length.
First let me explain that I am a veteran who was retired for a line of duty incurred disability about ten years ago. I wasn't drafted; all of my service was voluntary, from 1973 on. Like many of my age group, I grew up in a middle class family with many highly revered elder veterans. Quiet men, whose service to "God And Country" from WWI and WWII through the "police action" in Korea earned them the respect of many....In short, role models of the kind not often found today.
My grandparents were brought to this country as children. Children old enough to know what the promise of America meant to hundreds of thousands of people throughout the world. What the value of liberty is....and that their family's struggle to get here was nothing compared to the never ending struggle to maintain that liberty. These things they taught to me.
With Vietnam winding down, my choice to serve my country was not a very popular one, even among many of those veterans in my family, but I saw it as my duty to my country. The country which had given my family and I so many opportunities.
Like most young men of a mere eighteen years, I had little interest in politics...
[He details his growth through education, and his pursuit of his own American Dream.]
In college I had taken a philosophy course simply to satisfy a humanities/social sciences requirement. I found that I enjoyed that course much more than I would ever have imagined, and it introduced me to many authors I would otherwise have never known, including Ayn Rand.
Ayn Rand's books struck a chord with me. Here was someone who had written what I had been taught, and had believed in all of my life. She put into words the things I believed, but couldn't express. Her writings caused me to take a hard look at the world around me for the first time, to examine how reality correlated with that which I had always accepted as the truth.
What I found was 'the big lie'. You see when I was in grade school I was taught a subject that is now considered to be outmoded, old fashioned, archaic, and God help us, of no value. A subject called 'Civics'. The study of how our great nation was founded, the principles for which it stands, and how our founding fathers intended it to work. In short all of the things that I had believed in, and had spent a large portion of my life fighting for.
Prior to this revelation, I had grown complacent in my new life. I let my weight increase, and my fighting skills fade. These things I determined to change.
I began spending more time in the woods, I once again honed my shooting skills, I got myself into better shape, and in doing these things I met many others like me. Others who had given their youth for what they believed to be true, only to find that while they were away protecting liberty, the legislators they defended had sold these precious freedoms to the highest bidder.
These men who, like myself, had sworn an oath "…to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic…", also found that the greatest threat to the Constitution that they sworn to protect is indeed domestic. They also realized, as did I, that this sacred oath does not include an end date. It is forever, and we take it seriously.
I expect soon, to once again take up arms, to "…bear true faith and allegiance…", to the oath that I, and many others like me took.
I won't be alone. I will be among comrades, brothers in arms.
We, above all others, know that freedom isn't free, its cost is high, and the currency it demands is blood.
We agreed to pay that price before, we will do so again.
Will you stand with us?
Door Number One, or Door Number Two?
By Ken Brydges Added 4/22/99
A local fundamentalist church was having an awareness meeting and discussion group on the potential Y2K problems when a stranger showed up to "listen in." Later, by the process of elimination, it was determined that he was quite probably an undercover government agent, sent to see what direction their Y2K preparations were headed.
Fundamentalist sects are noted for their intractability and non-compliance to rules and regulations that conflict with their religious beliefs. Therefore, they are a threat, of varying degrees, to the powers that be. Good, compliant, taxpaying citizens they may be, but ifthe governement considers them a problem, they will be watched, and if necessary, stopped. Stopped by whatever method is convenient. There are certainly a plethera of "stoppers" available to them: media demonization; IRS audits; FBI and/or BATF involvement; or if necessary, a Waco or Ruby Ridge-type solution. I am sure I have left out numerous avenues that the "stopping" can take, not being privy to all of the powers of the powers-that-be.
The Government will not permit dissent unless it is of the "limp-wrist" variety, say, in the manner of the Republican Party. Even then, it is almost always tokenism. Real dissent is not allowed. It is crushed.
My conclusion, therefore, is that there are only two courses of action for any principled person to take. Either comply with government rules and regulations, whatever they are, and modify or ignore your religious beliefs. Or, ignore, resist, subvert, or refuse to cooperate with those who would step on your beliefs. I do not see any middle ground.
But what do you do if you have chosen door number two? Most certainly, you cannot count on the Constitution of the United States, or more specifically, the Bill of Rights to protect you in your dissent. Although these sections and articles were set up specifically to protect dissenters, the words and meanings have been so twisted and weasel-worded that they no longer have relevance. The government only pays lip-service to the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights has become a hollow shell.
It is almost as if the rolls of citizen and government have been magically reversed. We are treated like the founding fathers held the government. All the restrictions were on the government and not on the citizens. But that is no longer so. Now the government can pretty well do whatever it wants, and the citizen is buried under a whole mountain range of laws, rules and regulations.
So. Where do we go from here?
I doubt that there will be any consensus...even in the smallest groups. Therefore, it will end up being an individual decision. Every person having to make up his or her own mind, based on what is most important to them. When all is said and done, it boils down to security or freedom. And, knowing how highly security is valued these days, I do not have a lot of hope for the future of freedom.
You May Prevail
By "Desert Dolphin" Added 3/3/99
Please ask Peregrine to perhaps be ready to die, but also determined to possibly prevail.You never know how the conflict will end. It's hard to win if you don't visualize it beforehand.
When They Come to Break Down My Door, I Hope...
By Betsy Added 3/3/99
…That I'll be wearing my "I'm from the government and I'm here to help you" tee-shirt (with illustration of pointing gun). It will look so good for the TV cameras.
…That my dog will get a mouthful of ninja gonad before the ninjas get him.
…That I will know at the bottom of my heart whether this is a moment I should choose to live to fight another day, or the moment I must take the ultimate stand.
…That at least one of the invading gang members has a conscience that torments him the rest of his days.
…That someone who loves freedom will know and remember.
…That my damn gun won't misfire (if it needs to fire at all).
…That I will be wearing, for my mother's sake, nice, tidy underwear.
…That I will be wearing, for my own sake, something warm and comfortable, just in case they take me out alive.
…That, if the invasion devolves into a siege, I will be at least as sensible as "Crazy Shirley Allen," who, in 1997, survived 39 days surrounded by Illinois cops, on nothing but good reactions and good habits alone.
…That, if this is part of some mass invasion of freedom lovers' homes, all the others will acquit themselves both bravely and sensibly.
…That they will not die in vain.
…That they will never find the you-know-what we have hidden you-know-where. And that they'll never be comfortably sure whether I'm joking about this part or not.
…That America will finally wake up and look at the horror going on outside its TV sets. (Not that I have much hope.)
…That whatever happens on that day, freedom will rise again and never fall to the whims of tryants.
Live Free or Die
By "TARFU 43" Added 3/3/99
We the undersigned, having watched the removal,(forceful, and otherwise) of our most basic American freedoms, do state the following: 1 We will not tolerate the imposition of martial law in America without the consent of the people. 2 We will not tolerate any further control of communication by any form. 3 We will not tolerate any gun laws, bans, or legislation which are further destruction of our Constitutional, and God-given rights to protect ourselves,our homes and loved ones, and our Beloved America from all enemies, foriegn and domestic. 4 We believe this government no longer works on behalf of the principles upon which our nation was founded. Therefore; We the undersigned, do swear before God , our Sacred Constitution, we will resist any and all attempts at any of the above actions, and will do so with force of arms if need be. There are worse fates than death, the first being a vanquished, enslaved America!!!
America is our Homeland,land of our fathers, it ours by birthright, and by blood, and we will cherish it unto death , and we will NEVER,NEVER,NEVER give America over to those who will not cherish her and give to her their very best. America was borne of men and woman much greater than ourselves, and we will not soil their memories by sleeping when we can be Patriots, standing guard over the pride of their hearts. The long nights are yet to come but we will give of ourselves until there is nothing left to give but our last breath, and when that breath is done, we will go to Whence We Came, and report that we gave our last full measure of devotion to the land we loved ,but we left our dreams behind in the soil of that beloved land, that like an unfired musket at Lexington or Concord, to be picked up and carried forward by another and fired into the black heart of those who would enslave this land. We stand before The Almighty this dark day and say "we will never surrender" LIVE FREE OR DIE
Live to Fight Another Day
By "No Man is an Island" Added 2/28/99
After reading Peregrine's piece on making a stand, I gave a considerable amount of thought to what he said. While it would definitely "make a statement" if all gun owners chose to draw a line in the sand and shoot it out with the feds, I believe that it would be wiser to "live to fight another day". We will not beat these people with firepower, they have enough high-tech goodies to find a gnat in a rain forest if they want to... You could be armed to the hilt and they'll send one helicopter gunship and turn your home into a pile of toothpicks in a matter of seconds. Tactics have changed a bit since the Revolutionary War... This requires that we, (meaning those who do not agree with the government & their policies) will have to out think them.
First, I doubt that the seizing, or confiscation, of privately owned firearms will be an orderly process, mainly because it will take too long if done through the courts and the "justice" system. Having observed the tactics of the current administration, I believe that there will be an artificially created "crisis" which will give cause for martial law, which will then lead to the confiscation of civilian firearms. My advice is to go out and buy junk weapons. Hide all of your good stuff, and when they come and knock on your door, smile and "give 'em the junk..." Perhaps they will even have a rebate program such as they had in Australia and you can use the money for better things. They will not have the time, nor the manpower, to be combing the hills and dales looking for cached weapons & ammo. Having records of prior purchases, they will suspect that you own other weapons, but just tell them that you sold them to someone else and there is not a lot that they can do. (note: the government is moving rapidly to close down the unrecorded sales of firearms between private parties. I would also be suspicious of the recent wave of "concealed carry" legislation, or any other program that puts your name in the records, as they may well be ploys to identify gun owners.)
Times will get tough, but we must be wiser and tougher. The right time will come to draw the line and fight back. We must be prepared, and patient.
(c) 1999 Individual contributors
|
|
|
|
| The Lodge
| Claire's Books
| CW Essays
| CW Sillies
| Patricia Neill
| Friends
| Bookstore
| Reviews
| Literature
| Sound-Off Archive
| Den
| Links
|
If you find anything awry at this site,
please contact the Web Tender.